Abstract: We present a detailed description of the electromagnetic filter for the PTOLEMY project to directly detect the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB). Starting with an initial estimate for the orbital magnetic moment, the higher-order drift process of E x B is configured to balance the gradient-B drift motion of the electron in such a way as to guide the trajectory into the standing voltage potential along the mid-plane of the filter. As a function of drift distance along the length of the filter, the filter zooms in with exponentially increasing precision on the transverse velocity component of the electron kinetic energy. This yields a linear dimension for the total filter length that is exceptionally compact compared to previous techniques for electromagnetic filtering. The parallel velocity component of the electron kinetic energy oscillates in an electrostatic harmonic trap as the electron drifts along the length of the filter. An analysis of the phase-space volume conservation validates the expected behavior of the filter from the adiabatic invariance of the orbital magnetic moment and energy conservation following Liouville's theorem for Hamiltonian systems. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: We study in detail the method proposed recently to study the vector-vector interaction using the N/D method and dispersion relations, which concludes that, while, for J = 0, one finds bound states, in the case of J = 2, where the interaction is also attractive and much stronger, no bound state is found. In that work, approximations are done for N and D and a subtracted dispersion relation for D is used, with subtractions made up to a polynomial of second degree in s – s(th), matching the expression to 1 – VG at threshold. We study this in detail for the rho rho interaction and to see the convergence of the method we make an extra subtraction matching 1 – VG at threshold up to (s – s(th))(3). We show that the method cannot be used to extrapolate the results down to 1270 MeV where the f(2)(1270) resonance appears, due to the artificial singularity stemming from the “on-shell” factorization of the rho exchange potential. In addition, we explore the same method but folding this interaction with the mass distribution of the rho, and we show that the singularity disappears and the method allows one to extrapolate to low energies, where both the (s – s(th))(2) and (s – s(th))(3) expansions lead to a zero of Re D(s), at about the same energy where a realistic approach produces a bound state. Even then, the method generates a large Im D(s) that we discuss is unphysical.

Abstract: We examine the theoretical motivations for long-lived particle (LLP) signals at the LHC in a comprehensive survey of standard model (SM) extensions. LLPs are a common prediction of a wide range of theories that address unsolved fundamental mysteries such as naturalness, dark matter, baryogenesis and neutrino masses, and represent a natural and generic possibility for physics beyond the SM (BSM). In most cases the LLP lifetime can be treated as a free parameter from the μm scale up to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit of similar to 10(7) m. Neutral LLPs with lifetimes above similar to 100 m are particularly difficult to probe, as the sensitivity of the LHC main detectors is limited by challenging backgrounds, triggers, and small acceptances. MATHUSLA is a proposal for a minimally instrumented, large-volume surface detector near ATLAS or CMS. It would search for neutral LLPs produced in HL-LHC collisions by reconstructing displaced vertices (DVs) in a low-background environment, extending the sensitivity of the main detectors by orders of magnitude in the long-lifetime regime. We study the LLP physics opportunities afforded by a MATHUSLA-like detector at the HL-LHC, assuming backgrounds can be rejected as expected. We develop a model-independent approach to describe the sensitivity of MATHUSLA to BSM LLP signals, and compare it to DV and missing energy searches at ATLAS or CMS. We then explore the BSM motivations for LLPs in considerable detail, presenting a large number of new sensitivity studies. While our discussion is especially oriented towards the long-lifetime regime at MATHUSLA, this survey underlines the importance of a varied LLP search program at the LHC in general. By synthesizing these results into a general discussion of the top-down and bottom-up motivations for LLP searches, it is our aim to demonstrate the exceptional strength and breadth of the physics case for the construction of the MATHUSLA detector.

Abstract: The proposed Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) utilizes a wide-band on-axis tunable muon-(anti) neutrino beam with a baseline of 1300 km to search for CP violation with high precision. Given the long baseline, DUNE is also sensitive to effects due to matter induced non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI) which can interfere with the standard three-flavor oscillation paradigm. Hence it is desirable to design strategies to disentangle effects due to NSI from standard oscillations. In this article, we exploit the tunability of the DUNE neutrino beam over a wide-range of energies to devise an experimental strategy for separating oscillation effects due to NSI from the standard three-flavor oscillation scenario. Using chi(2) analysis, we obtain an optimal combination of beam tunes and distribution of run times in neutrino and anti-neutrino modes that would enable DUNE to isolate new physics scenarios from the standard. We can distinguish scenarios at 3 sigma (5 sigma) level for almost all (similar to 50%) values of delta. To the best of our knowledge, our strategy is entirely new and has not been reported elsewhere.

Abstract: A discrete-time Quantum Walk (QW) is an operator driving the evolution of a single particle on the lattice, through local unitaries. In a previous paper, we showed that QWs over the honeycomb and triangular lattices can be used to simulate the Dirac equation. We apply a spacetime coordinate transformation upon the lattice of this QW, and show that it is equivalent to introducing spacetime-dependent local unitaries-whilst keeping the lattice fixed. By exploiting this duality between changes in geometry, and changes in local unitaries, we show that the spacetime-dependent QW simulates the Dirac equation in (2 + 1)-dimensional curved spacetime. Interestingly, the duality crucially relies on the non linear-independence of the three preferred directions of the honeycomb and triangular lattices: The same construction would fail for the square lattice. At the practical level, this result opens the possibility to simulate field theories on curved manifolds, via the quantum walk on different kinds of lattices.